Depressible traffic signal



March 12, 1935.

v IN V EN TOR. 6m 65 8 P05 7-0/1/ A TTORNEY signal shown mounted in a street;

Patented Mar. 12, 1935 DEPRESQSIBLE TRAFFIC SIGNAL.

George'Russell Poston,Gastonia, N.iC.,fassignor V of fifty-one per cent to Earl E; Groves, Gastonia, N. C.

- Application March 15, 1933, Serial No. 660,911

- Renewed January lL'1935 7 6 claims; (CLAN-125 This invention relates totrafiic signals; and particularly'to the type-of signalsmountable in streets or highways and having a visible indici'a bearing element projecting abovethesurfac'e of .5 the street or highway and dep ressible 'by vehicle Wheels.

1 In general structure the signal illustrated and described hereinafter resembles and embodies features of the signal shown anddescribed in the copending application of Roberts Tatlock, Serial No. 437,215. Y 7

The-principal novel features of the presentin-a vention reside in the 'construction'ofthe depress ible signal element in such manner as to protect the indicia bearing face and indiciafrorn damage, wear, and dirt from the treads of vehicle wheels which encounter and pass over the element, so

that the indiciawill remain clearly visible for a great length of time; 1 I

All of the objects and advantages of'the invention will become apparent, and will be pointed out during the course of the} following detailed descriptionof the'accompa'nying drawing, whereinare shown preferred embodiments of the inven-' cluding upright or vertical panels 16 and 1'7, contion, and in'which v i Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one form of traffic Fig.2 is a transverse vertical sectional view through the signal of Fig. 1; "Fig. 3 is a; view similar to Fig. 1', showing another form of signal invention; and Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical sectional iview through the signal o f'Fig. 3.

'Referring to the drawing, the'two forms of the invention are shown in connection with a basescrews 5 over the ends of the pintle to maintain it in place.

Aspreviously stated, the present invention relates to the signal elements which are hingedly supported on the pintles 3, and in Figs. 1 and 2, the signal element is shown as having inclined side walls 6 and an inclined rear wall 7., Atthe lower end ofthe wall '7 and adjacent the ends of side walls 6 the signal element is provided with depending ears 8 which are journaled on the pintle 7 There is also a projection 19 at the top of panel embodying features of the i to'contact with projection or rib 19, as presently is, thus providing'the' hinged or a pivotal connecposition of Figs. land 2, which is determined or established by engagement of-the ofiset corners 10, of the front-wall 11 of the signal, hereinafter described in detail, with cushioning blocks 12 mounted'at the front corners of'the housing-1'.

"Projecting rabbeted sections 12 on the side walls of the housing form in conjunction with the front wall of the housing pockets for the cushioning blocks. It may also be desirable to provide a cushion for contact by the signal when it is depressed into the housing, and to this end I may provide on thefront wallof-the housing a channel 14 to'hold-a cushion block 15 at the proper distance below the street for contact by the lower edge of the front-"wall 11 of the signal element when itis depressed. f

-The front wall 11 is of stepped formation in-;

nectedby'a horizontal panel 18, the forward edge of which projects beyond the-top-of the panelfl'? to provide a rib or abutment '19, for contact by the treads of thewheels passing over the signal.

16 for contact by the treads of wheels subsequent explained'in detail; r I The embodiment of the invention shown in Figs.

1 and 2 is especially, though not exclusively,

adapted to reflecting or illuminated signals in which'the' indiciais clearly visible night and day. The panels each have portions of' letters STOP, which are painted in a bright color so that they may be seen in daylight, and prisms 20 are mounted at spaced intervals in the lettering so that they willreflect the light from an ap,- proaching vehicles headlight, whereby the word Stop will'appear before the driverin illuminated form at night. The vertical panels 16 and l'lfor stepped wall 11, appears to the approaching driver as a continuous surface, but where large or prom inent letters are desired, if the front or indicia"v bearing wall of the signal was in the form of a straight surface the elevation would be too great to obtain proper or complete deflection or depres-, sion of the signal into the housing. Furthermore, if the front wall with prisms therein is inclined, the angle of inclination will prevent direct reflection of rays of light from approaching vehicles. 55

With the signal constructed and mounted as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a vehicle wheel tread engaging it from any direction will depress it and pass over it without shock, due to the inclined side and rear walls and stepped front wall. The tread of a wheel approaching the front wall will first engage projection 19 and partly depress the signal and then engage projection 19 further depressing the signal and eventually completely depressing the signal and passing thereover with the indicia and prisms within the housing and never contacted by the tread. Attention is called to the fact that the pintle 3 is located at the end of the rear wall, so that the front or indicia bear ing wall is always pushed down in the housing and the tread runs over the rear wall in passing over the signal. dicia is protected not only by the projections above referred to for engagement by the tread, but also by the manner in which the signal elementis arranged and secured to the housing.

: Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate another embodiment of the invention and thenumerals-l', 2', 3', 4, 5', 6, 7', 8', 9, 10, 12, 133-14, 15' designate the same parts as the corresponding unprimed numerals in Figs. 1 and 2. It will be noted, however, that the pintle 3' is located at the lower end of the front or indicia bearing wall of the signal element, which is provided with the ears 8' to pivotally connect the signal element to the housing or base, hence when the signal element is.

depressed the wheel tread will pass over the in dicia. To protect the indicia from wear and dirt which the wheel treads would otherwise impart to it, I provide at the top of the front wall 21 a projection or rib 22, similar to 1970f Figs. 1 and 2, for contact by the treads of wheels or tires. I also preferably form the faceor wall 22 curved in an are smaller than the are on the surface of wheel or tire treads, so that the surface of the tire or wheel tread will not contact the surface of wall 21. I also preferably provide a projecting rib 23 along the bottom of wall 21, and an interrupted rib 24 intermediate ribs 22 and 23 between and at the ends of the lettering. As in the case of the letters of Figs. 1 and 2, the letters ST-OP of Figs. 3 and 4 are painted a bright color and preferably indented in the wall 21..

When an approaching wheel arrives at the signal from the front, the tread will strike the projection 21 and depress the signal, and as the wheel passes over the depressed signal the tread will be supported on the projections and willnot contact the indicia.

What is claimed is:-

'1. In a traffic signal including a base to be mounted in a street or highway, a signal element pivotally connected to said base, and a springto hold said element above the surface of the street and permitting depression of said element when contacted by the treads of vehicle wheels, said signal element having a stepped front wall bearing indiciato confront approaching vehicles, and thetop edges of the stepped portions constituting abutments for contact by the treads of wheels and presenting a bar to contact between the treads and the indicia, and a rear wall over pressed.

It will thus be seen that the in- 2. A depressible traffic signal comprising a baseto be mounted in a street or highway, a signal element pivotally secured to the base, a spring nor-; mally holding the element above the surface of the street, said signal element having an inclined rear wall and a stepped front wall, the latter bearing indicia confronting approaching vehicles, the pivotal connection being so arranged and located that when the stepped wall is engaged by the treads of wheels said stepped wall and indicia thereon will be depressed into the base and said inclined-wall will be positioned across the top of the base and will support the wheels passing over the signal.

3; In a depressible trafiic signal including a base, a signal element having a wall of stepped formation with panels bearing indicia, light reflecting prisms in said indicia, means pivotally connecting said element to said base, a spring holding'said element and stepped wall above said base with said prisms at a light reflecting angle relative to the headlights of an approaching vehicleand the line of vision of the driver, and a rear wall-over which the wheels run when the signal is depressed. I

4. A depressible trailic signal comprising a base mountable in a street, a signal element pivotally connected to the base and, depressible therein, said signal element having a wall of stepped formation'providing panels and at least one ledge intermediate the panels, the forward edge of saidledge projecting beyond the indicia for contact by the tread of an approaching vehicle wheel and to bar contact between said tread and indicia, the pivotal connection being so arranged and located that when the stepped wall is engaged by the treads of wheels said stepped wall andindicia thereon will be depressed into the base and said inclined wall will be positioned across the top of the base and will support the wheels passing over the signal,

5. A depressible traffic signal including a base, a signal element pivotally connected to the base, and a springto hold said element above said base, said element having a concave wall confronting approaching vehicles and said wall bearing indicia, projections on said wall extending beyond the indicia for contact by the treads of vehicle wheels passing over the signal element, and the arc of said wall being smaller than the arc of the treads of usual vehiclev wheel tires whereby said tread will be held by said projectionsfrom' contact-with said indicia.

6. A depressible traffic signal including a base extending from the top of said wall outwardly beyond said face and indicia'and located for contact by the treadof the tiresof approaching ve-' hicle wheel to further protect the indicia from being contacted by said tread.

GEORGE RUSSELL- POS'I 'ON. 

